The Craft Drawer

Yes, this post is titled "The Craft Drawer" but really, it's just one of many. After many years of accumulating, I'm finally on a mission to clean out my craft drawers a bit and keep only the items I can still see myself needing. I have big plans for what I'm ready to part with but you'll have to wait until I'm finished with that project (just a few days, I've gotta get it in the mail for Christmas).

I just bought myself a Silhouette electronic cutting tool. I'd been wanting something like this for years but didn't relize any existed that could hook up to my computer. I wasn't wild about how other cutters advertise that they DON'T require the computer and that I'd have to buy and store actual cartridges. I don't need more STUFF!! So, when I discovered the Silhouette through another blogger's recent experience, I just had to have one. To top it off, she worked a sweet deal with the folks at Silhouette to get a deep discount on it and some starter supplies. It was too good to pass up. I've spent the past few days discovering all the amazing things this tool can do. What does this have to do with my craft drawer you might ask? Well, I made little folder buckets using one of the patterns available in the Silhouette store. I have GOBS of paper and cardstock from years of acquiring so the materials weren't an issue at all.

First of all, here's the problem . . . this picture shows the contents of one small drawer unloaded all over my ironing board.

I knew I needed to compartmentalize all these items but I didn't want to spend any money on the fix. I started with an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of cardstock and loaded the folder pattern into my Silhouette Studio software. After cutting, I had this shape:

I created a total of 12 boxes in 4 colors, lined them up and made a little tray for them to keep them contained and lined up nicely.

Then I filled it up with most of the stuff on the ironing board and created labels using my handy labelmaker (every organizing fiend's best friend).

Then I dropped my tray full of little folder boxes into the plastic drawer.



Now that drawer is neatly organized, easy to access and best of all, the fix didn't cost me anything out of pocket. Each little file folder can be individually removed from the tray and drawer for when I work on a project or I can remove the entire tray. Either way, everything is easy to access and I have a much better idea of what I have.